Bangalore: Gowda’s son ‘absconding’, warrant issued

A city court on Thursday issued an arrest warrant against railway minister DV Sadananda Gowda’s son on charges of raping, cheating and kidnapping a Kannada actor while Karnataka police said the accused — Karthik Gowda — was absconding.

The complainant says she married Karthik at his Mangalore residence in June with only his driver present, but he later dumped her to get engaged to another woman.

The police asked Karthik to appear before them for questioning twice, but he failed to show up with the second deadline expiring on August 29. A lookout notice has been issued against him.

Sources say the local police have formed two teams to search for Karthik in Bengaluru and other parts of Karnataka. They have also alerted their counterparts in Goa and Kerala to look out for the accused.

Meanwhile, the city civil court, which heard an anticipatory bail plea of the accused, adjourned the matter till Friday.The Gowdas have denied the charges and accused the actor of defaming them, blaming political opponents of conspiring to bring disrepute to their family.

In another twist, a Kannada film director said he had married the complainant, following which the actor filed a case with RT Nagar police on Wednesday night, accusing him of tarnishing her image.